The former railway hotel that once had a zoo in the garden - and a bear behind the bar

ECCENTRIC LANDLORD WAS BITTEN BY RESIDENT LEOPARD - AND DRINKERS HAD TO DODGE A PUMA

- By LYNETTE PINCHESS

RECENTLY the Final Whistle in Southwell, complete with a mock railway platform in the beer garden, was in the spotlight after being named CAMRA’s best pub in Nottinghamshire. But there’s another pub in the county that’s next to an actual railway station.

The Victoria Hotel, or the Vic as it's known in Beeston, couldn’t be easier to reach by train as there's a gate with direct access from the platform into the pub's extensive beer garden, where drinkers can sit in the sun or take cover under the sprawling shelter.

Although it no longer serves as a hotel, the pub is popular for its beer and freshly-cooked food.

Drinkers will find a CAMRA recommended range of real ales - permanent fixtures such as Castle Rock’s Harvest Pale, and guest beers which currently include Little Critters’ Shire Horse and Stancill’s Barnsley bitter.

Draught ciders, porters and stouts, craft beers and continental beers will quench the thirst of visitors, along with plenty of wines and spirits. The traditional hostelry is one of the few that hasn’t resorted to selling cocktails.

Food is high on the agenda, with all the options chalked on boards on the wall.

Steak sandwiches, Moroccan spiced minced lamb tagine, Thai spiced sticky honey beef chilli, Lincolnshire sausages and scallion mash, and red lentil and mushroom bolognese feature.